Sad times

No, I’m not talking about war or politics or even the state of the Democratic party. I’m talking about the recent violence at some schools. A man with a grudge, yesterday, went into an Amish school in Pennsylvania and executed several young girls, before doing us all a favor and blowing his head off. He just had the order of things wrong. What could cause a person to do such a thing? Or, last week in Colorado (I think), another man went into a school, took some girls hostage, molested a few, and killed one or two before killiing himslef.

What has gotten into some people? I imagine we’ll eventually read about some “traumatic” childhood, or “deep seated” resentments or “unresolved rage” or other psycho-babble. The bottom line is, each of these people had some sort of problem and society–we–did nothing about it. Maybe we ignored the warning signs. Maybe we didn’t listen to them. Maybe we didn’t take them seriously. But I think, to some extent, that society shoulders some responsibility for not “heading them off,” though certainly not the blame for their actions.

It’s scary. To think that the guy next to you could suddenly come unglued some day, and come to work or school or the store you’re in or the place you’re visiting–to come in with a gun and just start blasting away. How can you prepare for that? You cannot. You can just live your life the best you can, each and every moment, and be thankful for what you have and what you can accomplish today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You must take care of yourself today.

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